


The Death Cure

by Thefemalearrow



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Maze Runner Fusion, Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Betrayal, Canonical Character Death, Charles Smith is a good guy in this, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rescue, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:00:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 5,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26105344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thefemalearrow/pseuds/Thefemalearrow
Summary: After a plague affects Riverdale, it's discovered that the students of Riverdale High might be the only chance for a cure. After a massive betrayal, Jughead and his gang go across enemy lines to save their own.
Relationships: Archie Andrews & Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper & Sweet Pea, Betty Cooper & Veronica Lodge, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones, Cheryl Blossom/Toni Topaz, Fangs Fogarty & Jughead Jones, Hiram Lodge & Betty Cooper, Jughead Jones & Original Charles Smith (Riverdale), Jughead Jones & Toni Topaz, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is inspired by 'Maze Runner: The Death Cure' the movie(haven't read the book). This is a post-apocalyptic AU. Now, on with the chapter!

It has been one hundred and thirty days since it all began. Riverdale was the first town to be hit with the plague that turned people into mindless creatures. It was soon discovered that the students of Riverdale High could have a cure. It was discovered that their blood could save everyone. They started rounding them up and taking them to labs. Most of the students went into hiding since it was rare that anyone came back from the labs alive.

Jughead came back to the base and saw Betty was sitting by herself. She looked like she was thinking, but she also had a regretful look on her face. Jughead walked over to his girlfriend. "Hello," Jughead said.

"Hey Jug," Betty said.

"Is everything ok?" Jughead asked.

"I want you to hear me out before you make an opinion," Betty said, in a low voice. She was loud enough so only Jughead would hear. "Promise me you'll do that."

"Of course," Jughead stated.

"Remember how my mom was one of the first people to become affected?" Betty asked. Jughead nodded mutely. "I watched her suffer for weeks before I shot her in the head. Because, even though she didn't have the strength to say it, I knew that's what she wanted instead of becoming a crank. I've been wanting a cure since day one. No matter what the cost. So when Hiram Lodge approached me-"

"You didn't." Jughead interrupted. Before she could respond, he heard gunfire in the meeting room. They ran to the room and saw Hiram and his crew. They were shotting people with darts. They used bullets on the ones who were harder to get.

Jughead turned around to face Betty. "You traitor," he whispered.

"It was the only way," Betty said. Jellybean saw that someone was about to shot Jughead, so she hit him with her slingshot. She got tased for that and was dragged off. Most of the people at the base were knocked out and taken.

Once Hiram was satisfied with the group he had collected, he, Betty, and his workers left. "Jughead, I'm sorry," Archie said. "They took JB and most of the serpents."

Jughead started to pound his hands on the wall. "Traitor," he screamed. "She was working with Hiram!"

"Who was?" Toni asked.

"Betty was," Jughead shouted. "She worked with Hiram Lodge and lead him here!"

Toni wrapped her arm around Jughead for comfort. Archie gave Jughead a water bottle. He downed it in two gulps. He turned around to face the remainder of the people at the base. "We're going to get them back," Jughead promised.

"How?" Toni questioned. Jughead stood there for a moment, in silence as he tried to form a plan in his mind.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day, the captured people were being transferred to the lab by bus. There were three known buses, and Jughead and his crew believed they had pinpointed the bus that had their people. Jughead was trailing the bus in the back in a jeep. "I'm right behind the bus," Jughead said over his walkie talkie. "Do I commence part two?"

"This is Antoinette Topaz," Toni said. She was in another vehicle that was nearby. "Don't commence phase two just yet. Archie is still finishing up his part of phase one, but I think he's almost done."

"Alright," Jughead said. Jughead then saw that the leading bus had pulled over, showing that Archie had successfully hijacked the first bus. That bus had the majority of the leaders and scientists. Through a camera, Jughead saw that Betty and Hiram weren't on the bus. He figured they were on the last bus or took a vehicle that they couldn't see.

"Commence phase two," Toni demanded. Jughead crawled onto the hood of the jeep. He grabbed the rope and tied it to the back of the bus. FP, who was driving the jeep, slammed on the breaks, causing the jeep and the bus to stop. He opened the back door and started to walk to the front of the bus.

As Jughead made his way to the front of the bus, he scanned the faces of the people on the bus. He saw that Betty and Hiram weren't on the bus, confirming Jughead's second theory. He held the bus driver at knifepoint as FP climbed onto the bus. "Antoinette, it's safe to commence phase three," Jughead instructed.

"Are you sure?" Toni asked.

"Yes," Jughead said. He then heard the noise of a car door slamming. He waited for Toni to say something, or to hear the voices of the people on the bus. He heard Toni start muttering swear words. "What is it, Toni?"

"This is the wrong bus," Toni stated. "This is the bus that is transporting the crew from Greendale, not Riverdale. None of our people our on this bus."  
\---  
Everyone made their way back to the base. They took in the kids from Greendale. FP, Toni, Archie, Jughead, Fangs, and the remainder of the serpents met in FP's private chambers. "We need to get out of here," FP said. "Hiram knows where we live, and once he's out of subjects he'll come back for more."

"We can't leave the ones who are trapped in the lab," Jughead protested. "They're being tortured and leaving them behind. Dad, they have JB."

"I second what Jughead said," Toni stated. "I'm not leaving my girlfriend to die."

"Do you think I want to leave them?" FP shouted. "I know it's unfair to leave them to rot, but we can't lose any more people. I've already talked with some friends I have in Canda, and they're willing to take us in. We leave tomorrow at dawn."

FP then stormed out of the room, entering his bedroom.  
\---  
That night, Jughead packed a bag. He was going to find the lab where the Riverdale crew was, and save them. Once he was finished packing, he found a jeep and refilled the gas. When he was finished, he saw that Toni, Fangs, and Archie were watching him. "What are you doing here?" Jughead asked.

"We can ask you the same thing," Fangs said.

"I'm going to find the lab," Jughead said.

"We know," Toni stated. "And we're going to help you. It might be the end of the world, but you're still our serpent king, and we need to stay loyal. Until the end of the line."

"This is going to be very dangerous," Jughead said.

"We know," Archie said. "Which is why we're coming with you. On the day that this all began, I said I'd follow you into the end of the world. That wasn't a lie, Jughead. I have your back."

"And if you don't let us come, well tell FP what you're doing," Fangs said.

"Fine, climb in," Jughead said. They then climb into the jeep and drive off, preparing themselves for whatever was waiting for them at the lab.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the reads, bookmarks, and kudos on this story! I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story so far! Also, Veronica never started going to Riverdale High, so she never met Archie and the others. She's also a few years younger than Betty in this.
> 
> TW: There is a scene of a man trying to attack a woman.

Sweatpea was in the Whyte Worm. It was storming outside, and he heard groans from the bar's basement. "I think we should check out whatever's making that noise," Fangs suggested.

"I agree," Sweetpea said. They then open the door that the stairs to the basement were behind. They walked down the staircase, descending into the dark abyss. Fangs turned on his phone's flashlight. They heard a loud groan and turned to the direction it came from. They saw that Penny Peabody was there, and had become a crank.

Sweatpea let out a scream as he was taken out of the simulation. Sweatpea was strapped to a metal table. Betty and Hiram were watching from the other side of a glass window. "Your theory was right," Betty stated. "Their blood is more powerful when the subject is scared."

"Good, bring the next subject in," Hiram demanded, before walking off. Betty looked at the next name that was on the list. It was Jellybean Jones. Betty gulped, as she hadn't done the test on a kid yet. Betty sighed as she went to the cells.  
\---  
After Jellybean's experiment, Betty went to the infirmary. She saw Veronica Lodge, Hiram's daughter, was laying in a hospital bed. She had a giant crank bite on her neck. "Hey," Betty said.

"Hello," Veronica said, in a weak voice. "Do you have my medicine?"

"I do," Betty said, a smile growing on her face. She pulled out the vaccine that had Sweetpea's blood. She injected it into Veronica's neck, and the bite on her neck got smaller. It wasn't gone completely, but it had gotten better. "It's working."

Betty's walkie talkie then turned on. "We need you in the interrogation room," Hiram instructed. "Sweetpea tried to start another uprising, but we managed to stop him. We need you to talk some sense into him."

"I'm coming," Betty promised. She then exited the infirmary and went to the nearest elevator. She clicked on the button for the second floor, and she arrived there after about a minute. She walked out of the elevator and went to the interrogation room. Sweetpea's hands were handcuffed behind his back. He had a black eye, and he stared at the ground.

"Hey Sweetpea," Betty said. She sat on the other side of the table. "I heard you caused quite a stir earlier on the cell floor. I know it's hard to believe, but you're serving a great cause. There's a girl who we can save from becoming a crank by using your blood, but we need your cooperation."

That's when Sweetpea snapped. He stood up, but he was still connected to the chair. He jumped at her. "Traitor," he screamed, trying to attack her. "You betrayed us!"

Two guards and Hiram entered the room. The guards sedated Sweetpea and dragged him off. Hiram looked at Betty, who shaken up about the attack that almost happened. "Are you ok?" Hiram asked.

"Yeah, I'm ok," Betty promised. Hiram then saw Sweetpea was being dragged back to the cells.

"Do you regret joining us?" Hiram asked. Betty then saw Sweetpea's unconscious body and she thought for a moment. She felt bad for them, and she wished there was another way, but this was the only way. She then turned to Hiram, knowing her answer.

"No," Betty said. "Not at all."


	4. Chapter 4

Jughead and his friends drove threw the outskirts of Riverdale. They were in the area in-between Riverdale and Greendale. They came across a cave that would take them out of the woods. "I'm going to be honest with you, Jug," Archie said. "If I was a crank, that's where I would be."

"I say we go threw," Jughead said.

"Are you kidding me, Jug?" Fangs asked. "That place is probably crawling with cranks. If we go in, we're not getting out with our lives. I say we turn around, or we find away around the cave."

"The cave looks rather wide," Toni stated. "It will probably take all night to find a way around the cave. And we can't waste time like that. I agree with Jughead's plan to go threw the cave."

"Thanks for backing me up, Topaz," Jughead stated. He then drove the jeep into the cave, to the dismay of Fangs and Archie. He turned on the car's headlights as they continued on their path. About three minutes later, a woman started to bang on the window.

"Help me," she said. "Please."

She then started to attack the window, showing she was infected by a crank. Jughead slammed on the gas pedal, causing her to roll over the car. Other cranks started to pound on the windows to try and break them.

One broke the window that Archie was beside. Toni quickly shot and killed it. There seemed to be about twenty cranks, and the group realized they probably weren't going to get out of this alive. They couldn't become cranks since they were immune, but cranks could still kill them in other ways. "I'm sorry," Jughead said, tears streaming down his face. "I'm sorry that I got you guys into this mess."

"It's ok," Fangs said, in a soothing voice. "You were only trying to do the right thing. At least we will die together."

Right before the cranks could kill them, they heard gunshots from the opposite direction. They turned around and saw another car had entered the cave. They shot at the cranks until all of the cranks dispersed. To there suprise, Charles Smith poked his head out the window. It was believed that Charles was killed by Hiram at the beginning of the apocalypse. It was believed that Charles sacrificed himself so the students could get away from Hiram Lodge.

"Charles," Jughead gasped.

"Follow us if you want to live," Charles shouted. They followed Charles's car to the other side of the cave. They didn't stop until they were on the other side of the cave. After they parked, everyone climbed out of their cars. Jughead and Charles shared a tight hug.

"I thought you were dead," Jughead said.

"I wish I had reached out sooner," Charles said. "Hiram Lodge shot me three times. I thought he was going to kill me until Lake found him."

He gestured to a girl with light purple hair and green eyes. She waved and smiled at Jughead. Jughead waved back. "She fixed me up and allowed me to join her gang," Charles explained.

"I'm so relieved to find out that you're ok," Jughead sighed.

"Where's Betty?" Charles asked. There was an awkward silence amongst Jughead's crew. Charles's stomach turned. Had his sister become by a crank? Had she been captured or killed by Hiram Lodge?

"She betrayed us and joined Hiram Lodge's ranks," Sweetpea confessed.

"Oh," Charles said. "Speaking of Hiram, I think I know where he took your friends. He was a lab around here, and I think it's a great place to start. I can take you guys there."

"Please do," Jughead said. Archie grabs Jughead's shoulder.

"Can I talk to you in private?" Archie whispered.

"Of course," Jughead said. They stepped away from the group. Jughead leaned against a tree as Archie pulled up his sleeve. Jughead gasped as he saw that Archie had a crank bite on his arm.

"I got bit during the tunnel battle," Archie explained. "I think it's spreading faster than a normal one."

"I thought were immune," Jughead stated.

"I thought so too," Archie sighed. "Promise me that you'll kill me before I become a crank. But wait until we have saved the others from the lab."

"I'm not going to kill you," Jughead protested.

"Jughead, I'm a danger to the group,' Archie argued. "Please do it so I don't become a crank."

Jughead tried to stop the tears from escaping his eyes. "I will," Jughead said, in a choked-up voice. "I promise."


	5. Chapter 5

Jughead and his gang arrive at the entry to the lab. "There is a thumbprint identification connected to all of the entrances," Charles explained. "All of the employee's thumbprints are connected to the system. Without a thumbprint, we're never getting in."

"Luckily we have someone on the inside," Archie said. Everyone knew who he was talking about. Jughead had an uncomfortable look on his face, and Archie noticed. "What is it, Jones? Scared that we're going to hurt your girlfriend?"

"She's not my girlfriend anymore," Jughead snapped.

"Did you guys ever officially break up?" Fangs asked.

"No, but I feel like her betraying us and joining the enemy was basically her calling off our relationship," Jughead stated. "Are you sure there is no other way in, Charles? I don't think Betty will be willing to help us."

"We've tried all of the other ways," Charles said. "None of them work. This is our last chance."

"Also," Lake said. "Who said anything about her being willing to help us?"  
\---  
Betty was walking home. She lived in an apartment that was a short walk away. She was wearing a white medical mask, along with all of the other people who were going home from work. She saw Jughead standing on the other side of the road. Betty blinked, thinking that he was just her mind playing tricks on her. When she opened her eyes, he was still there, but walking away. Betty ran across the street to catch up with him.

She caught up with Jughead in an alleyway. "How are you here?" Betty interrogated. "This place is heavily protected from outsiders."

"I have my ways," Jughead said, turning around. He was wearing a dark blue hoodie, and the hood was up. He took a few more steps closer to Betty. "Tell me, Cooper. Do you regret what you've done?"

Betty was quiet for a moment. "Jughead, I don't think you understanding what we're doing here," Betty said. Toni snuck up behind Betty and held a chloroform rag to her face. Betty passed out and they went back to the base.  
\---  
Betty woke up in a dark warehouse. She was sat in a chair, but she wasn't bound to it. There was one light in front of her, showing that Jughead, Toni, Archie, Fangs, and, to her suprise, Charles. "Charles," Betty gasped. "I thought you were dead."

"So I've heard," Charles stated.

"We need your help," Fangs said. "We're not asking for your help, we're taking your help. We need help breaking into the lab so we can save our people."

"You guys are being selfish," Betty said. "Do you know how many lives we can save using your blood? With your help, the world might be able to go back to normal. But you cowards chose to hide instead."

"And you think we deserve to die?" Jughead asked.

"If there was another way, we would choose that, but this is the only way," Betty said.

"Well, you don't have a choice on whether or not you like it," Toni threatened. "You can either come with us and unlock the door, or you don't come with us and we'll just take your thumb. I prefer the second option."

Betty glared at them for a moment. "I guess I'll help you," Betty said, in an angry tone.

"Good," Jughead said. Everyone then started getting ready to go. Betty and Fangs debated on whether or not Betty should have a gun. Toni came up with the solution of Betty having a knife, and they both reluctantly agreed.

They then go over to the lab entrance. Betty turned around and looked at them. "Are you sure you guys want to do this?" Betty asked. "Once you go in, you might never come out."

"Yes," Jughead said.

"Ok," Betty said. Betty pressed her thumb onto the thumb pad, and the door unlocked. Betty opened the door and they entered the lab.


	6. Chapter 6

Sweatpea was taken to the laboratory. He was laid on the lab table, and they started to strap him down. Sweetpea noticed there was an empty needle within his reach. Once one of them was close enough so they could do the soldier injection, Sweetpea head budded him, breaking their nose.

He used the needle to break the ropes. He got off the table and fought the remaining scientist. He opened the door and ran away from the lab.  
\---  
Betty gave the people on the rescue team worker outfits. She made sure to give them outfits that covered their faces. These were the outfits that the guards usually wore. She led them to the nearest elevator and they climbed in. Before the elevator could leave, Hiram stopped it and climbed inside. He clicked on the bottom for the floor he was going to and the elevator ride began. "I thought you left for the day," Hiram said.

"They're doing some last-minute testing," Betty explained. "They needed me to come in for a second shift."

Hiram nods, and the rest of the elevator ride went by quietly. Luckily, Hiram's floor was before theirs. They then went to their floor, which was the last one. They climb off of the elevator and stepped into an empty meeting room. "Now we need to split up," Betty said. "Some of the experiments are being kept in the left-wing, whilst others are on the right."

They separated themselves into two groups. It was decided Betty and Charles would be the group leaders. People initially protested Betty being one of the leaders, but Charles explained it was because she knew the base the best out of all of them. They then separate to rescue their people.

Betty led her group towards the left-wing. About five minutes into their walk, someone grabbed Betty's left shoulder. She turned around to face Hiram Lodge. "I need to talk to you," Hiram said. He led her to the lab, but they didn't go inside. He stopped in front of the window, where Betty could see that Veronica had gone full-on crank. One of the scientists gave her a lethal injection, killing her quickly.

"She was doing well a few hours ago," Betty said, in shock.

"We believe Sweetpea's blood only caused the virus to slow down," Hiram said. "We did a few more tests on the other experiments, and they had the same results. But we had a sample of Jughead's blood."

He showed her the video of what Jughead's blood does to the virus. It showed that his blood completely killed the virus. "We have to find Jughead so we can use his blood to save the world," Hiram explained.

"But to get at least half a dozen biles of it, we'd have to kill him," Betty said.

"So?" Hiram asked. "I thought you believed that killing people for the good of humanity is ok."

"It is, but," Betty started, before Hiram interrupted her.

"Then what is the problem?" Hiram asked. There was a brief moment of silence.

"There isn't a problem," Betty lied,

"Good, now let's get to work on locating Jughead Jones," Hiram said.  
\---  
Jughead and his crew entered the cell. Toni clicked a button that released the hostages from their shackles. Toni ran over to her girlfriend, Cheryl, and they shared a loving embrace before they shared a passionate kiss. "I'm so glad you're ok," Toni muttered.

"Sweet reunion, but we have to do it later," Charles said.

"Question," Jughead said. "How are we going to transport people back to the base? We only have a few jeeps."

"I talked with Betty about that on the way here," Charles explained. "Betty has some of the keys for the buses that transferred the hostages here. We'll just take those to get out of here."

Jughead nods as they heard footsteps. They turned around and found that they had been spotted by a few guards. The guards drew their guns and pointed it at the rescue team. "Freeze," one of them ordered.

Before they could attack, Sweetpea entered and attacked the guards. Jughead and Toni joined the fight and disarmed the guards. Once they were knocked out, Jughead and Sweetpea shared a friendly hug. "It's good to see you man," Jughead stated.

"It's good to see you as well," Sweetpea said.

"Now let's go," Charles said. "The others should have saved the others by now."

They then exit the cell and started to go where the buses were being held. As they walked, Archie started to lean heavily on Jughead. Jughead didn't mind figuring it had something to do with his crank bite. Archie eventually gave out and had to sit down. Jughead sat in front of him, and Toni sat beside Jughead.

"What's going on?" Toni asked.

"He was infected by a crank," Jughead said. "It's going to be ok, Arch."

Archie's eyes went black, showing that he now was a full-on crank.


	7. Chapter 7

"Archie, it's me," Jughead said. He knew it was wishful thinking to hope that Archie was still in there, but he didn't want to give up on his best friend just yet. "You can fight this!"

Archie lunged at Jughead. Jughead struggled as Archie kept him pinned down. "Kill me," Archie pleaded, in his last moment of humanity. He then went back to being a full-on crank. Jughead turned to the group as he struggled with Archie.

"Run," Jughead shouted.

"We're not leaving you," Toni protested.

"You have to," Jughead shouted. "Don't come back for me. Just keep running until you're safe!"

Cheryl grabbed Toni's left arm and they ran out of the hallway. Jughead and Archie continued to fight. Jughead found his knife and, reluctantly, he stabbed Archie in the neck. Archie fell off of Jughead, dying immediately. Jughead sat up and realized what he had done. Jughead began to sob. "I'm so sorry, Archie," Jughead sobbed. "I wish I could have saved you. I'm so sorry."

Jughead heard footsteps, and he saw that Hiram's wife, Hermonie, had joined him. Jughead, tears still streaming down his face, stood up. He pointed his gun at Hermonie. "I don't want a confrontation," Hermonie stated. "I just want to talk."

"About what?" Jughead asked. "Let me guess, you're here to tell me about how my blood will save the world. How I'm being selfish by denying you my blood? I've heard that story billions of times, and I'm sick of it."

"Jughead, we made a discovery earlier today," Hermonie explained. "Only your blood can get rid of the virus for good. If you agree to cooperate, your friends will be free to go. But if you don't help us, we'll kill you and your friends. Please Jughead. Do it for Archie."

Before Jughead could make his decision, Hermonie was shot in the back of her head. She fell to the floor. Jughead spotted Chic, one of the hirer ups at the lab. Hiram snuck up behind Hiram and knocked him out with a baseball bat.  
\---  
Toni and the others made their way to where the buses were kept. Toni and the opened, and they entered an empty. "They must have figured out we were coming here," Fangs concluded. "Now we have no idea where the buses are. We're going to die here."

"We can't lose hope just yet," Toni said. "We can just walk back to the base."

"It will take us too long to get there," Fangs protested. They then heard a loud crash. They turned around and saw that a white bus had entered the large room. They were surprised to see that FP was driving it.

"FP Jones," Toni said, walking towards the bus slowly.

"I found out what you guys were doing," FP said. "I figured you guys could use some help."

"Glad that you decided to come and help," Toni said gratefully.

"Same here," FP sighed. "Now I need to talk to my son. Where is he?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. I'll see you guys again soon!


	8. Chapter 8

Jughead stirred awake. He saw that he was restrained to a hospital bed, and there was a table beside him with medical equipment on it. Jughead began to struggle as Hiram entered the room. "Stop struggling," Hiram demanded. "It's not going to help you."

"Let me go," Jughead demanded.

"Not until I get what I need," Hiram growled. He was about to sedate Jughead when someone hit him on the head. Hiram collapsed onto the ground, and Jughead saw Betty was the one who knocked him out. Betty freed Jughead and took him out of the room.

As they run threw the building, they caught the scent of smoke. They realized that a fire had started on one of the lower layers, and it was quickly spreading. "We're going to have to find another way out," Betty concluded. "I think there's a secret exit on the roof."

There was then a gunshot. Jughead had been shot right below the ribs, and he fell to the floor. "Jughead," Betty screamed. She got on her knees and started applying pressure to his wound. "You're going to be ok."

"No, he isn't," Hiram stated. Betty looked up and glared daggers at him. "How could you betray me like this? We accepted you into our family, and you did this to us? I should have made you an experiment, but now I have to kill you."

Betty then saw the button she was told to stay away from. If she pressed that button, the cranks that they kept for experiments would be released. Betty feared that that button, but now she believed it was her only chance to getaway. Betty pressed the button, releasing the cranks. They ran out of the cell and began to eat Hiram alive.

Betty helped Jughead up. The fire continued to spread as they made their way to the roof. She took them to the secret exit but quickly realized that it was full of smoke. "Crap, we're going to die," Jughead said.

"At least we'll die together," Betty said. She then laid Jughead onto the roof. She pressed their foreheads together, and Betty kissed his soft lips as she heard the sounds of a helicopter. They turned around and saw a helicopter that had Toni, Fangs, Charles, Lake, and FP in it.

"We stole one of the helicopters," Toni shouted. "Jump aboard! We think the building is about to collapse!"

Betty led Jughead to the ledge of the roof. "FP, he needs medical attention," Toni said. "It looks like he has been shot!"

"Go Jughead, jump," Betty said. Jughead jumped towards the helicopter and, with the help of FP and Fangs, he was safely on the helicopter. He was laid down as he turned to face Betty.

"Jump," Jughead screamed. "You still have time! Jump!"

The helicopter moved farther away from the roof. Betty then ran to the other side of the roof and started to run. She ran back to where she started and tried to jump to the helicopter. She hung onto the ledge, and Jughead tried to help her aboard. Betty lost her grip and started to fall.

"No," Jughead screamed in agony. His vision started to get blurry do to the blood loss. The last thing he saw before he passed out was Betty's lifeless body falling to her doom.


	9. Chapter 9

Jughead woke up on a hard bed. He saw that he was in a tent, and he was shirtless. The area under his ribs was wrapped up in a bandage. He remembers the rescue, and how Betty and Archie were now dead. He shed a tear as he remembered that faithful night.

Toni then entered the tent. "You're finally awake," Toni said. "You gave us quite a scare."

"How long have I been out?" Jughead asked.

"About two and a half weeks," Toni explained. "You were out for the entirety of the journey to Mexico. We made it, and now we don't have to worry about labs anymore. We're finally safe."

"Were there any more loses while I was out?" Jughead asked.

"There were none," Toni said, shaking her head. "We're having a group meeting. If you feel up for it, follow me. But if you don't, that's ok. I'll fill you in on what is said afterward."

She then exited the tent. Jughead slowly sat up and put his feet on the left side of the bed. He slowly stood up, wincing slightly. He stood up and exited the tent. He joined the others at the center of the camp. Jughead sat by Toni on a stone bench.

"Listen up, everyone," FP announced. Everyone was silent as they gave FP their attention. "We've been through a lot to get to where we are today. Sadly, not everyone who started this journey with us is still here today. To remember them, I invite everyone to come up here and engrave someone, who isn't with us today, name into this bolder."

FP started by engraving Alice's name into it. Slowly, people went up there and engraved their loved ones' names. Jughead watched them but didn't get up. "Are you going to add a name?" Toni asked.

"I'm thinking about it," Jughead said. Toni nods and walks away. Soon Jughead was the last person left. He stared at the bolder. He noticed that someone had already engraved Archie's name into it. Jughead slowly walked over to the bolder and started to engrave a name. This was a name he knew wouldn't be on there. He was the only one who cared to engrave this name. He finished up the name and took one last look at the bolder before walking off. He smiled softly as he promised he'd never forget that name.

Betty


End file.
